Transcendence
by Maken
Summary: ºYaoiº -.Through pure will and sheer tenacity, Uzumaki Naruto goes beyond his limits to keep his promise and uphold his nindo; to walk a path of no regrets, without looking backwards, and never going back on his word.- ºNaru/Sasu/Nejiº
1. First

_**I Disclaim **_ownership of Naruto.

_**Alert!**_ There will be boy-lovin' in later chapters.

_**Pickled Brains**_**:** Dull title, I know. I was trying to think of something snappier, but it turned out more serious than intended.

I didn't really like starting this fic where I did, but after watching the anime again I found it to be the perfect time to use for its beginning. I'm still sorry for using the cliché, but hopefully you'll understand it as you read on. And yes, I have immature and petty reasons for writing this, but you'll have to wait 'til the end to find out what they are!

-o

**First Chapter  
**_of_**  
Transcendence**

-o

Standing across each other at the bottom of the waterfall, at the feet of statues representing people Naruto didn't know nor care to name, he could clearly see the lightning once again gathering into Sasuke's hand. On reflex, he focused his own chakra into the only attack he knew could counter the Uchiha's, even as he felt the last dredges of his energy disappearing from his grasp.

His body throbbed and his coils wailed in protest, but Naruto didn't care. Without asking and ignoring every complaint his battered body made known to him, he pulled more of the Kyuubi's chakra to the surface, satisfied when some of his fatigue was washed away.

He wouldn't lose Sasuke now, and wouldn't be defeated by him! Not after all they had gone through. Not after everyone had done everything possible to get _him_, Naruto, to where he now stood so he could complete this mission; so he could keep his promise! He wouldn't . . . _absolutely wouldn't_ allow Orochimaru to have the Uchiha! He wouldn't let that snake claim his best friend!

And as he crouched, _Rasengan_ swirling crimson in his palm, the shroud of Kyuubi's chakra thick and bubbling, Naruto narrowed his gaze on the almost maniacal features of his comrade.

Sasuke looked thoroughly unnatural. The chakra the other boy was expelling was even fouler than his own. This wasn't the boy he had chased for so long; the one he admired from afar; the one he had always wished to befriend, but ended up proclaiming as his rival instead.

This wasn't the boy whose friendship and acknowledgement he had almost attained after craving it for so long.

The creature in front of him wasn't the same person who had protected him within Haku's ice mirrors, or the one who had trusted him to fight Gaara to save Sakura. There was no sign of the boy who wanted nothing more than to save those precious to him, who wanted nothing more than to avoid losing them again.

Only malice remained. Only lust for power could he see in those Sharingan eyes.

This Uchiha Sasuke was tainted; corrupted by both Orochimaru's seal and Itachi's mind techniques. Naruto vowed, even as he launched himself forward for one last attack, that he would protect his precious friend — even if Naruto had to protect him from himself!

They clashed mightily and both techniques repelled themselves for a moment and then mingled, Sasuke's black and his own red chakra combining to create a heavy cocoon around them. They continued forwards with their last assault, both of them aiming their clawed hands at each other.

. . . But Naruto couldn't go through with it. If his claws continued their course, and with his current speed, they would imbed themselves into Sasuke's head, so he redirected the blow into a side-swipe and simply scratched the other boy's forehead protector.

To him, it proved everything the other boy thought of him wrong. It proved that he _was_ worthy of acknowledgement. With this action and by fulfilling Sasuke's challenge given so long ago atop the hospital roof, and reiterated when they had first begun their fight in the valley, he knew he had proved himself to the other boy. He had hit the mark which had been laid out to him at the beginning of both battles with his rival.

He had, indeed, been able to scratch the Uchiha's forehead protector.

What surprised him more than anything, though, was that at the last moment Sasuke hesitated as well and instead of impaling him with his own claws, the Uchiha simply curled his hand into a fist and knocked the air right out of his lungs.

They flew apart and Naruto could feel his vision graying — could feel himself blacking out . . .

_'No!'_ was the only thought which crossed his mind; harsh and undeniably obstinate. It couldn't end like this, he wouldn't allow it! He drew at his chakra, he _heaved_ at it, ignoring everything else. He gave no mind to his fall, nor did he concern himself with his current lack of air. He scratched and he clawed to remain lucid, to stay out of darkness' grasp.

He was Uzumaki Naruto, _damn it_, and he always kept his words! He never broke his promises!

And he wouldn't start doing so now.

He knew that if he didn't fight, if he didn't stay awake, Sasuke would be able to leave. And that was something he would greatly regret.

It went against everything he stood for, and everything he was.

So when he found a scrap of energy within himself, he _pulled_. He pulled hard and he pulled fast. He didn't care about anything else, even as chakra flooded his system. He ignored the burning sensation of his body as Kyuubi's vile power covered him once more in a shroud, and he clamped down on his agony as he landed with bone jarring force atop of the water.

There was only one thing on his mind, even as his lungs sputtered a bit before faintly starting once again. He focused solely on Sasuke, who had landed safely on the shore, at the foot of a statue, and was staring unsteadily at him with wide obsidian eyes; looking normal once more.

Naruto was about to hurl himself at the tired looking Uchiha, to knock him out and restrain him. To end this fight once and for all and drag his friend back to Konoha— but he couldn't. He found he simply _couldn't_ move, and what's more, he couldn't _feel_ anything; his whole body was unresponsive, _numb_. The well of absolute pain that had before suffused his entire being was slowly fading into nothingness.

He screamed in his mind and willed himself, _forced _himself to move.

One hand first, that was all he needed. He struggled with it, and he pulled more and more chakra from his prisoner, for if he couldn't move his muscles himself, then he'd move them with the life-bearing energy. He watched as it bubbled and thickened even more, and felt a second tail sprouting from the shroud.

It was then that his mind slipped a bit, just a tiny fraction, and he suddenly felt the Fox's overwhelming, enraged presence surfacing with staggering force, seeping into him from its cage. For a moment, his own eyes widened, panic building, until he felt the seal start burning in his stomach.

Never before had he known such sudden suffering or such searing agony, but the result was instantly apparent. His own chakra was building; his own reserves were being filled! The seal was forcibly converting the Kyuubi's chakra into his own, and that was enough for Naruto to regain control of himself, if just by the merest amount.

. . . If just by the tip of his figurative fingertips.

Sasuke was clearly exhausted, he could see it clearly now, and he was slowly backing away from him, something Naruto could not allow. He wouldn't let Sasuke leave! He would have shouted at him if he had a voice, but his throat burned too much to do even that, so he willed his chakra to the surface and directed it to his right arm.

It pushed at the Kyuubi's chakra and mixed with it in a swirl of red and blue, and as if following his thoughts, his own charka stretched and covered the distance between the two of them and grasped Sasuke as he stumbled before quickly pulling him back to where Naruto was, motionless; trapped. It took everything he had to move his right arm, but with a strained snarl, he managed it and soon had Sasuke's powerless form grasped both with his real hand and trapped within a giant claw made out of his own, blue chakra—

And then something broke, and his mind compressed in on itself as his burned throat hoarsely screamed his pain aloud. The seal blazed and his chakra kept pouring out of him, unchecked. He could feel the Kyuubi surfacing more quickly and he poured his entire mind and all of his will into pushing that presence back behind its bars, but he felt like he was a single bucket trying to push the ocean back into place.

He lost sight of the outside world, only the feel of Sasuke in his grasp allowing him to focus. He pushed at the Kyuubi even as the Fox's chakra kept pouring out, even as the seal kept frantically converting it as fast as it could.

It dawned on him clearly just what was going on; the bastard Fox was trying to escape! The Bijuu was hammering all of its chakra out, probably trying to overpower Naruto to gain its freedom. The energy surrounding him bubbled and thickened more and more by the second and Naruto could already feel a third tail forming, and seeing as he wasn't being even slightly successful in his bid to suppress the fox's attempted escape, he did the next best thing he could think to do; the only thing that came to mind:

He sent his own chakra to the seal.

He concentrated every available scrap of it into his stomach, leaving only what was needed to keep Sasuke in place.

He poured everything he could into it, and he felt as if he were burning alive from the inside. It was almost too much for him and as the fourth tail formed, and Kyuubi surged in his mind, and his control slipped once again; he almost gave up. He couldn't feel anything but pain, couldn't focus on anything but his chakra and the feel of Sasuke in his grasp, and he . . .

. . . He wouldn't be able to win against such powerful a foe as the Kyuubi.

Right then, Naruto almost surrendered.

That is, until he felt the red chakra seeping into and trying to overpower the arm that held Sasuke safely.

Everything changed after that.

Demon or not. Kyuubi or not. Power incarnate or not. He didn't care; _No one threatened his friends._So he fought.

And he did so fiercely.

**-O****●O●O●O-**

It was starting to rain, and he doubled his pace as he felt the sheer amount of absolutely foul chakra being expelled from up ahead. The skies were black with it. The air reeked of its tainted nature. He dreaded what he would find and he left Pakkun in the dust when he felt that loathsome chakra begin to increase exponentially.

Kakashi could feel it from this distance, and he wasn't even all that sensitive to chakra. He just prayed to whatever deity that could hear him that his students were okay, that his fears were unjustified; _that the Kyuubi were not breaking free._

It took too much time to reach his destination, and what he saw there was both frightening and awe-inspiring. For the sight which greeted him wasn't like anything he was expecting. The feel of it was like nothing he'd ever witnessed.

"Is that . . . ?" Pakkun asked when he arrived beside him at the edge of the rock face, even as rain began to fall, the sun disappearing behind stormy clouds.

"That's Naruto," he answered with certainty as he revealed his Sharingan eye. It was hard to understand what was happening. In the center of the valley, standing stock-still atop the water except for four waving tails was what would appear at first sight as a miniature Kyuubi.

But on closer inspection he noticed something was off about the miniature fox.

Odd bulging spots of blue chakra would appear and spread throughout the fox-like body. It mixed and swirled and fought the red chakra so the whole thing appeared to be a mix of blue, red, purple and varying darkening shades of each.

The torrents of energy being released sent the water of the river spraying and splashing away from the jinchuuriki, even as whatever liquid that touched the transformed boy was instantly evaporated. It was a vicious storm of wind, water, steam and chakra.

His worst fears were becoming reality, for it looked as if the red chakra was winning; it was taking over everything, constantly expanding, which was what Kakashi dreaded the most. And that's when he saw something move. Sasuke was there, staring fearfully at Naruto as the Kyuubi's chakra seeped into the energy-made claw that held him in place.

The Uchiha tried to faintly struggle but was unsuccessful, his efforts increasing even as the boy's panic visibly did the same.

The copy-nin doubted he would have reacted differently if he were in the same position. And there was no way Kakashi could get close to them now; the sheer power being expelled would make it impossible for him to approach. And if he somehow managed it; if he got close enough to deal a killing blow to Naruto, the Kyuubi could very well gain its complete freedom, regardless.

None of the people capable of suppressing the demon were even in the village, and they would be too late arriving in case they were. In fact, should the Kyuubi escape the seal, the safety of the village should be Kakashi's greatest concern.

Though again, no matter what he _should_ be doing, if it meant leaving one of his precious students behind then it was a completely unacceptable course of action.

As things stood, Naruto was the only thing standing between the Fox and the outside world and Kakashi was loath to risk doing something that would jeopardize the boy's chances of success.

His other option, if he managed to get close enough, was to save his other student, but that alternative was equally dangerous. If he tried to get Sasuke away, he could break whatever concentration Naruto had, and whatever chance the boy had of winning this struggle.

And if the way the glowing eyes of the fox were staring at Sasuke was any indication, the Uchiha had certainly become Naruto's only lifeline.

Kakashi was reluctant to take that away.

Whatever the case, he was about to act and do _something_, because he couldn't just stand uselessly by. But then something _changed_. Not even with his sharingan could he see exactly what happened or what triggered it as blue chakra literally exploded around Naruto and wrapped around him in a secondary layer of power, seemingly smothering and fighting the Kyuubi's vile energy with renewed fervor.

Where the boy was getting all of it, he didn't rightly know, but he hoped it would be enough.

As it was, he hoped the seal wasn't compromised.

Wherever the two chakras touched they either mixed into purple and darkened, or fought for dominance. It was a sight to behold; like a battle fought in a hundred fronts, even as the fox grew larger the more chakra was expelled. A fifth and a sixth tail soon sprouted before something remarkable took place.

First around Sasuke and then in other places where Naruto's chakra was pushing the Kyuubi's down more heavily, where the fox was clearly loosing; instead of blue, a thick _silver_ chakra was left in its wake. As if Naruto had taken his chakra and purified the Kyuubi's with it; as if he were polishing the filth from a stained antique before making it his own.

And with the way that Naruto's chakra was spiraling; he could be doing just that.

It almost looked as if were scraping that vile power clean before sucking it down a whirlpool. And wherever this happened, where the silver chakra was denser, the Kyuubi's despicable chakra shirked from it, as if afraid.

Seeing that bright chakra reminded Kakashi sharply of his father's white chakra fang.

Still, as he watched, the phenomenon happened more and more and the fox stopped growing and seemed to condense in on itself even as a seventh and an eight and then the last tail appeared. It was both astonishing and unbelievable. Kakashi looked on, enraptured, as Uzumaki Naruto: the Number One Most Surprising, Knuckleheaded Ninja did it again and surpassed all expectation.

By doing something that should be impossible.

"Did he just do what I think he did?" Pakkun asked, incredulous.

"That boy . . ." he whispered even as he watched the last of Kyuubi's red chakra be consumed, and with it, the loathsome feel and oppressing pressure of its presence. Without another word, he made his way down and watched the churning chakra settle and compress in on itself once again, even as it became solid and tried to turn into silver fur.

Slowly, the torrent of expelled power slowed. The rain diminished to a trickle and the river settled somewhat beneath their feet.

Spots of blue and purple remained, but were absorbed into the silver fox-like shape, even as its chakra fluctuated; seemingly confused as to how to hold its form.

When he cautiously approached, he felt a low rumbling growl and watched as the silver fox in front of him opened clear blue eyes. The vertical pupils narrowed into thin lines, looking over at him before that giant head swung from side to side, its gaze settling on its right paw, where Sasuke was securely held.

"Naruto . . . ?" Kakashi asked lightly, but in a carrying voice, not sure what to think, but not risking getting any closer until he was sure it was safe; until he was sure this really was his precious, clumsy little student.

The fox's muzzle opened and its lips curled, showing misty, unformed fangs. For a moment Kakashi wondered how much trouble Naruto was having in controlling this massive amount of power; that was, if it was really Naruto in control. If it was, just how was he even keeping his shape? After all, his control had always been somewhat abysmal, though the boy had been improving steadily.

Even as he thought this, a patch of fur lost consistency and a paw became slightly insubstantial; almost as if it were silver tinted glass before the chakra thickened once more and became opaque.

Questions plagued his mind.

Was Naruto alright? Was his real body hurt? Shouldn't the boy or the seal be absorbing the chakra back into himself? The chakra was too tightly packed for his Sharingan to penetrate, and Kakashi was forced to cover it up.

It would be of no use if it couldn't see.

"Naruto, is that you?" he asked as he stepped a bit closer, his voice louder. He could see that Sasuke was clearly in shock, even as the silver fox became slightly smaller; more compressed. The chakra output steadied and the water alongside it.

If the frown of concentration on the fox's face was any indication, and if this really _was_ his student, then he was getting the hang of regulating his chakra.

In fact, standing upon the water was probably helping quite a bit.

"Naruto?" he called once more, almost ten meters away. The pupils in those clear blue eyes widened slightly and Kakashi could see by the way the fox opened its mouth that it was trying to speak. It frowned at its failure and Kakashi smiled at it. "Just nod your head if it's you, Naruto," he suggested, smiling both in happiness and utter relief when the silver foxes' eyes widened in realization before the giant head nodded enthusiastically.

He would have laughed out-loud if he weren't controlling his outward emotions, his relief was that great. Not to mention, seeing such a giant creature nodding so eagerly was a sight to behold.

Again, the silver fox frowned and the thick, syrupy chakra condensed a bit more, becoming more solid.

He worried for the state of his student's body when he finished his approach and extended a hand. Soft silver fur greeted his fingertips, and if he hadn't known that it was pure chakra, if he hadn't _seen_ it, he wouldn't have believed it, thought it kept shifting under his fingertips.

Was this why Kyuubi had been almost impossible to defeat? Because the fox was made completely out of energy? This would explain the lack of a body after its defeat; or even an elemental medium like the other Bijuu used. Everyone had assumed the Kyuubi had been sealed entirely, body and all.

Kakashi would have suggested they move toward the village immediately, but too much about the situation was unknown, and he wanted to give Naruto the time he needed to get a grip on what was happening. Hopefully the boy would find a way to get back to normal.

"Congratulations Naruto," he praised proudly instead of voicing his concerns, "You've completed your mission."

Kakashi didn't mention anything about the fox, though. He was mightily proud of Naruto for conquering the beast, but he didn't know if the Kyuubi was completely gone, or if Naruto was alright. For all he knew, the boy might be running on borrowed time.

Still, when the silver fox gave him a panting grin, tongue lolling about and all, he couldn't help but chuckle. "Follow me back to the shore so I can take charge of Sasuke, eh?"

And with a gesture, Naruto followed, walking a bit unsteadily on his three paws until he finished with a long jump towards the slip of land at either side of the waterfall. Kakashi took it all in as the fox sailed above him; the nine streaming tails and all, and wondered, even as the silver chakra fluctuated and rippled, if everything would turn out alright.

When finally on land, Naruto set Sasuke down, the Uchiha landing unceremoniously on his ass while looking nervously stunned up at Naruto as the boy-fox sat down on his hindquarters, long tails curling around him and the Uchiha. If Naruto had even a fraction of the control the Kyuubi had possessed over those tails, he knew Sasuke would be unable to get away, even if he had the energy to try.

He considered the situation carefully and knew he had to get both boys back to Konoha, no matter the current risks, though he worried about them all the same. "Naruto?" the fox turned toward him, a frown still wrinkling its silver muzzle, as Pakkun finally made it down to the valley floor, "Can you return back to normal?"

It was something he needed to ask, and he knew the answer immediately when the fox's long ears drooped and those clear eyes showed such worry. Naruto always had the most expressive face.

A sharp cry rent the air then and Naruto turned his head so fast that Kakashi suddenly knew there weren't any bones there to strain or snap or any muscles to slow its movements. His heart sank a bit as he came to that realization._ Damn_.

They needed to get to Tsunade as soon as possible.

He was with them a second later only to see Sasuke grasping at his shoulder painfully. In the exact same spot where Orochimaru's mark was. Kakashi was about to go pick up the boy when a menacing growl shook the earth beneath his feet.

Naruto was glaring intensely at the Uchiha's shoulder and with a few deft —though seemingly unconscious— swishes of his tails, the raven boy's shirt was made tatters. The silver fox lowered his giant head and Kakashi felt its chakra shift as it took a deep breath, scenting the air. And then, before he could protest or ask what he was doing, Naruto batted Sasuke's hand away somehow and lowered his head, shrinking a bit more as he did so, and bit down.

Sasuke screamed and Kakashi shouted at Naruto, but a tail came forward and held him gently at bay.

And then he felt it again, a weird shifting of the fox's, or Naruto's, massive chakra.

He uncovered his Sharingan when Sasuke passed out and watched through his red-tinted vision as Naruto did the improbable, _again_: The boy was sucking the cursed chakra from Sasuke's body and burning it!

And as if from far away, but coming from all around, he heard a whisper of Naruto's voice, _"I won't let Orochimaru have you— Sasuke!"_

It seemed the small blond had found his voice.

**-O●O●O●O-**

Everything was different.

Everything was completely and utterly weird.

He couldn't feel his body; he couldn't feel the steady thumping of his heart or the rhythmic movement of his lungs. Everything had changed.

Oh, he could _feel_, but that was different as well. He could see more than he had ever been able to before. He could hear more clearly than he thought possible, and his sense of smell was simply _extraordinary_.

Things he had always taken for granted looked, smelled and sounded new to him now; it even _felt_ different. While he could feel the wind against his, well, chakra . . . or was it fur? And the ground under him quite normally, there was something new there as well; something he had never felt before. It was as if he could feel life itself, but that was a bit out there, so he pushed it out of his mind.

What he was completely sure about, even as his fangs sunk more deeply into Sasuke's tenketsu, was that he could also feel, smell and taste chakra. And the Uchiha's tasted completely foul to his tongue.

But he ignored it and did the same with that chakra as he had done with the Kyuubi's; he turned it on itself and used his own chakra to help the process along.

Naruto didn't understand everything that was happening, and didn't particularly care at the moment. He only knew that he couldn't feel the Kyuubi anymore and that he had tons of chakra; a chakra more potent and purer than his had been. And it was all under his control.

True, he seemed to be stuck into the shape of a nine-tailed fox, but he was confident that Tsunade-baachan would be able to help him get back to normal; so none of it concerned him all that much.

What _did_ have all of his worry, however, was the unconscious boy between his jaws. And wasn't that absolutely the coolest thing ever? Ha! He could probably kick ass and take names more awesomely than ever before! Or rather, _bite_ the baddies in the ass instead.

. . . Though actually biting someone in the ass would probably taste pretty awful, now that he thought about it.

Naruto shuddered.

He shifted his tail so that Kakashi-sensei could come closer and concentrated once more when he noticed that he was almost done getting rid of all that cursed chakra and removing that foul seal from his best friend's shoulder. Hopefully Sasuke would be back to normal without its influence.

How he was doing what he was, he didn't have the foggiest, but he was and he knew without a doubt that it was working. He just _knew_ Sasuke was going to be just fine.

Frowning, he opened an eye when Kakashi's hand came to rest on his head, ruffling his fur as he had his hair. "I don't know how you're doing it Naruto, but we should head back to Konoha as soon as you're finished. Are you up to making the trip?"

Naruto blinked a bit, somewhat startled when he found that Kakashi was so much smaller than he was, before something caught his attention. He concentrated and sunk his chakra more deeply into Sasuke's coils to see what was wrong.

There! Another foul, tainted chakra pulsed from two small sources, so Naruto directed his own in that direction. While equally vile as Orochimaru's, in a different kind of way, they weren't quite as vast, so it took mere seconds for Naruto to clean it out.

What effect it would have on the Uchiha, he didn't know. But something told him what he had done was right, and Naruto always trusted his own instincts.

Pulling his fangs from the other boy's tenketsu, he licked the Uchiha a bit and blinked as he tried to figure out where that impulse had come from. Shaking his head, he stepped back and allowed Kakashi to check on Sasuke.

He grinned; he'd done it! He really had! His nine tails wagged and Naruto winced when one struck the wall of the valley and almost caused a landslide.

"Careful, Naruto," Kakashi scolded him gently and his long ears flattened themselves in shame. And now that he thought about it, what was going on with the long-ass ears, anyways? They looked like they were from a freakin' rabbit! "Are you ready to go?" Kakashi asked, breaking him away from his thoughts.

_"Hai,"_ he answered, somewhat surprised he could speak now, though equally unnerved by the echoey, coming-outta-everywhere-at-once quality of it.

Creepy.

Kakashi looked over at him and Naruto knew he was smiling. "Good, if you can talk, then how about you start filling me in on your mission, eh?" And with a gesture to follow, he set off back towards the village.

Naruto stood there for a bit before giving chase, only to have to skid to a halt when he found himself out of the valley and at the edge of the forest in three swift steps.

He blinked and looked back to see an equally startled Kakashi coming up from the valley floor with Pakkun close on his heels.

_"Pakkun! I didn't know you were there!"_ he exclaimed, completely ignoring the fact that he had covered so much distance in tree steps, and almost winced when his voice came out so much louder than he was used to.

"It's been awhile, Naruto," the small pug told him as he trotted up to him. He lowered his head, and concentrated a bit until he was only about half again the size of a horse. It took a whole lot of concentration to get to that size, since the chakra became so tightly packed, but even as he was thinking this, it became a bit easier to do it.

Only a bit, mind.

He sniffed at Pakkun and then turned back to Kakashi, who had Sasuke on his back. _"Ne, ne, Kakashi-sensei, I think I can take us home faster. Why don't you climb on my back?"_"Are you sure, Naruto? Isn't being in this form a strain? I don't want to make things worse than they are."

Naruto just shook his head and crouched so that they could get on, his long tails knocking a few trees inadvertently. _"I feel awesome Kakashi-sensei! I don't feel at all bad and I'm sure that Tsunade-baachan will be able to get me back to normal when we get back to Konoha. Besides, the faster we get back the sooner that'll be, so it's really for the best."_

A moment later he grinned, nodding and almost patting himself on the back with a tail for having such a good argument. For some reason, he could think faster and clearer than ever before, and his grin widened when Pakkun just climbed through his snout and perched on his head. "He's got you there, Kakashi," the pug commented with a doggy smirk.

With a thought, he allowed Pakkun's chakra to latch on to his own so he wouldn't fall.

"Alright, alright," Kakashi said, placing Sasuke on his back before climbing behind the Uchiha and grabbing fistfuls of silvery fur. "I'm not hurting you, am I?"

_"Not at all, Kakashi-sensei! I can feel you there, and I know that you're holding onto my chakra, I can feel that much, but it doesn't hurt at all!"_ He noticed Kakashi looking thoughtful, but set it out of his mind for now.

He walked in a circle to make sure that Kakashi and Sasuke had properly settled and to get a better feel of having four legs, which he found surprisingly easy to use (after all, he usually used both hands and legs when running through trees), before taking off with a _whoop!_

Kami, it was awesome! He was eating up ground like never before, and not feeling the least bit tired! He used the branches of trees when they were thick enough but otherwise kept to the ground, his long tails streaming behind him.

He began telling Kakashi everything about the mission and answered whatever question his sensei asked, marveling at how far he could see and dodging neatly through the forest floor.

It took no more than half an hour to tell his sensei everything he knew and to cover almost half of the distance to the village, even when it had taken them almost a whole day and night to cover the same expanse before.

And he was sure he could go even faster still, though he wasn't certain if he had the control needed for it.

His eyes darted to the left, where he had seen a flash of white. _"Kakashi-sensei, there's someone at four o'clock, though I can't tell how far away," _he sniffed,_ "And two others on our left, at eleven." _

"I see it, Naruto. Those are Konoha-nin. Stop and try to look as non-threatening as possible, eh? Remember that you look like the Kyuubi, which is why they're hiding."

Right.

He'd forgotten about that. He would have scratched the back of his head, but stopped the action when he noticed his silver claws. Alrighty, then. They could probably slice Pakkun into dog-chow if he actually did any scratching. Sitting down sheepishly, he curled his tails around himself, hoping that he looked cool in this pose, and looked around for the medic team.

"You can come out, it's quite safe," Kakashi spoke into the still forest.

_"Yeah, yeah, I won't eat you; it's not like I'm the bastard fox and all—"_ Kakashi cuffed him on the back of the head and Pakkun bit his ear, _"Hey, why'd you bite my ear, you mangy mutt?"_

"Shut up, idiot," the pug told him with an eye-roll and a sniff, "you're gonna scare all of them off. And besides, I'll have you know that I'm anything but a mutt; in fact, I have outstanding pedigree."

Naruto grumbled but fell silent when a medic in a white ninja outfit stepped out from behind the trees. "Kakashi-san," the man nodded, "Is he. . . ?" the man trailed off uncertainly.

Kakashi gestured vaguely. "He's completely alright, though seemingly stuck in this form. If it wouldn't be any trouble, could you check on him? We can't figure why the seal isn't absorbing the chakra back."

Startled, the medic nodded and approached carefully, signaling at his other two comrades to join him, "and Uchiha Sasuke?"

"He could do with a check-up as well. Naruto was able to capture him and somehow remove the curse seal," Kakashi said as he climbed down with Sasuke's limp form and set him down so the two other medics could see to him, looking as if what he was saying was nothing out of the ordinary. "If it's alright to keep moving, Naruto can get us there much quicker than if we where to go on foot."

"R—right," the medic-nin said as he approached him and Naruto grinned.

_"How are the others?"_ he asked, eager to find out if everyone was alright, his voice seeming to emanate from the whole of him instead of from his mouth, startling the medic. _"Did everyone make it?"_ he asked again when no answer was forthcoming.

Seeming to relax at the sheer worry in his voice, the medic finished approaching and placed his now glowing hands on his flank. "Everyone has been recovered," the medic answered absently, the rest of his nervousness seemingly evaporating as he ran his hand over Naruto's head before going back to his flank. "After receiving emergency treatment they were moved back to the village safely. Nara Shikamaru had minor injuries, and while deep, Inuzuka Kiba's own wounds were not life threatening."

The medic paused and crouched to pass his glowing hand across his stomach. "Hyuuga Neji and Akamichi Chouji, however, are in critical condition. At the moment, we don't know if they will make it."

The medic frowned a bit and double-backed, seeming to concentrate more on his exam. _"What about Lee?"_ he asked, worried for the taijutsu expert who had appeared and held back such a strong opponent, _"And Sasuke, is he doing alright?"_

"Rock Lee strained his body a bit too much and gained some superficial injuries, but it's nothing some rest won't cure. According to reports, Sabaku no Gaara lent him his assistance, while Kankuro and Temari of the Sand aided Inuzuka-san and Nara-san, respectively."

Naruto perked up at that. With Gaara's help, they should have surely won. He shook his head and looked back at where Kakashi was coming back carrying Sasuke. _"How is he?"_

"He's doing alright, Naruto. Some bruised bones and torn muscles, and near chakra exhaustion. The medics also said there are no signs of the curse seal left on his body apart from the strain it caused him while using it. Personally, I think you went too easy on him," Kakashi told him somewhat grimly.

_"Hey, hey, he was really strong! That cursed chakra from Orochimaru's seal was even yuckier then the Kyuubi's and was making him act like he was insane,"_ he told Kakashi, nodding to make his point, _"If I hadn't pulled on the fox's chakra, I'd be dead three times over!"_

"I know, Naruto, but still. . ." Kakashi trailed off and shook his head before turning the silent medic that had been examining him, "What's wrong with him?"

_"There's nothing wrong with me!"_ he told Kakashi indignantly and received a deadpan look in return.

He sulked.

The medics stared at the pouting nine-tails and relaxed even more.

The shinobi who had looked him over gave him a helpless look, "He . . . well—"

"Spit it out, man," Kakashi told him impatiently.

"Hai," the medic said, before turning an apologetic look his way, "His body . . . his body has disintegrated; absorbed by the chakra. The seal is intact and his whole chakra is stable. In fact, there seems to be no sign of the Demon anywhere in sight; he has absorbed that too."

The medic looked into his widened eyes and then around at his speechless comrades, and Naruto faintly noticed that Kakashi, instead of surprised, looked almost resigned. He didn't know what to feel, so he just stood there, stunned.

"However," the medic said, and he focused instantly on the man, "His chakra has all the materials of life; as if it had a map of what made Uzumaki Naruto. All of his cells are there, scattered. I think . . ." He paused before continuing with certainty, "I think that Tsunade-sama may be able to guide you into reforming your body once again."

_"I knew it!"_ He could always trust in the old hag to heal him up. _"Then what are we doing standing around here? Hop on!"_ And without any notice he grew to at least twice his size, startling the medics and knocking a few more trees; _"We need to get to Konoha!"_He needed to get Sasuke there too, after all. He had a promise to keep!

Though, as he took off with five people on his back, shooting towards his home at amazing speeds, he couldn't help but think that it wasn't all that bad, being a fox.

In fact, he could get used to it.

-o

**TBC . . .**

-o

_**Pickled Brains:**_ Why did I write this? Simple: I wanted Naruto to have overwhelming power from the near-start and explore how to use it, instead of having to gain it unrealistically, suddenly and through a week-long training session, when three whole years didn't do him any good. I think that having power, controlling it skillfully and using it wisely are completely different things, so I'm going to explore the latter two to my heart's content.

After all, every author is tempted to make his character the best there is, I simply fell into that temptation and I sure as hell am going to have fun with it!

So tell me what y'all think, okay?


	2. Second

_**I Disclaim **_ownership of Naruto.

_**Alert!**_ Mature content in upcoming chapters. Maybe.

_**Pickled Brains:**_ To those who reviewed: thanks! To those that didn't: get off your lazy asses and say something!

-o

**Second Chapter**  
_of  
_**Transcendence**

-o

There were only three people in the hallway when she stepped out. She sighed, mentally exhausted. Thankfully, she had good news for them. "He's alright now," she told them with a smile. "I was able to make an antidote to stop the continuous cell deterioration caused by the pill's side effect."

Making her way to a bench to get a load off, she allowed herself to take a breather. "The Nara Clan's secret medicine preparation manual was very useful, Shikaku. Writing something like that up must've been hard work." Something she was greatly impressed with. After all, the book itself was as big as her desk. "The fruit of many years of effort," she praised.

Shikaku just gave her a slight smile and a 'thank you' while inclining his head in acknowledgement. Tsunade could see most of his attention was on his son, who had his back turned to them and was probably worried for his comrades.

She understood well enough. It was missions like these that truly showed a squad leader how little control they could have over unfolding situations. The only thing to do afterwards was to learn from such experiences and become a better leader to better assure the safety of your comrades.

Before she could ask anything, however, running footsteps caught her attention. "Tsunade-sama!" Shizune called out as she stopped a short distance away, sweating, short of breath and obviously tired, but with smile on her face. "Hyuuga Neji is out of danger!" she announced, proudly, and well she should be, if the boy's injuries were as extensive as she had heard. Taking a steadying breath, her assistant continued, "And I've just received a report; Hatake Kakashi, Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke have just arrived in the village.

"They are all fine, and while the medic squad has brought Uchiha-san to the hospital, Kakashi-san has requested your presence at the village gates." She hesitated and Tsunade knew she picked her next words with the utmost care, "He sent word that there have been complications with Naruto-kun's permanent _condition_." And the way she emphasized the last word left no doubt as to what she was talking about.

The Kyuubi.

Tsunade was already moving, shooting a mild look Shikaku's way, who's muscles had tensed in preparation to follow her, knowing that any complication having to do with the fox shouldn't be taken lightly. However, the last thing she wanted was to cause an unneeded commotion. If Kakashi hadn't sounded the alarm, then she doubted there would be a risk to the village. She paused a moment to grasp the young Nara's shoulder. "It seems that the mission was a success. Congratulations."

She didn't wait around after that, falling into step with Shizune as she made her way out of the hospital. When they were out of earshot, Shizune started speaking, "One of the squad's medics is waiting at the entrance to fill you in on the situation. He says that it's nothing life-threatening, just highly unusual."

"Did you get anything else apart from that?" she asked, somewhat worried about what could have happened to the knuckleheaded brat.

"Not in regards to Naruto-kun, Tsunade-sama. But they did report that Uchiha-san's condition is not critical and that the boy is stable, if unconscious."

They soon arrived at the main entrance to the hospital, where a uniformed field medic was awaiting her. "Shizune, I want you to take charge of the Uchiha. Take him to a high-security room and have ANBU guard him while he is treated. I want eyes on him every second of the day. Until we know all the facts, I don't want to take any risks."

"Understood, Tsunade-sama." Shizune swerved and left through a side corridor as she reached the outside running. The field medic fell into step with her and her ANBU guards came out of the shadows to tail her. The medic directed her towards the western gates. They were one of the smallest entrances, not to mention quite the distance from the main bustle of the village.

Why would they take such a large detour, though? The main gates should have been the closest when coming back to the village.

As it was, it took the whole trip to the gates for the medic to fill her in on the situation, and even then, she didn't believe half of what he was telling her. If it weren't for the fact that she would find out if he was bullshitting her soon enough, she would have punched the man in the face long before now.

Still, if it _was_ true . . . no, she needed to see this for herself.

They exited the village, passed the stupefied Chuunin guards, and she stopped dead on her tracks, for there, just out of sight and sitting on its hunches was a completely silver fox.

A fox with nine effin' tails.

Disbelieving, she watched as the silver chakra rippled, shifted and then settled in different parts of its silver body. No other colors were apparent, though it was still a miniature replica of the Kyuubi. She noticed the medic squad leader was standing in front of the fox, green chakra resting on its muzzle as he spoke eagerly with it and . . . was that a dog sitting atop the fox's head?

The _hell_?

She approached cautiously and the fox's head whipped around to zero in on her. _"Tsunade-baachan!"_ it called out to her with a disturbingly familiar grin and clear blue eyes. Something that had started creeping unnoticed through her heart at such a sight loosened. The chakra she'd been gathering on reflex also dispersed back into her coils.

"Tsunade-sama," Kakashi greeted her when she stepped closer and into his field of vision, and she paused to look at him oddly. Things just kept getting weirder and weirder. Because of it, she focused on the man more than anything else; at the moment, his unperturbed attitude and visible porn were like a lifeline to her nerves. It was better to focus on him first than the giant pink elephant with nine furry tails.

Still. . .

"Kakashi," she paused again, and asked slowly, ignoring the panting, tongue-lolling grin the fox was giving her, "what are you doing sitting there?" And honestly, she had to ask, because it's not every day you see someone lounging atop a pile of tails that were said to cause tsunamis and earthquakes with but a single swish.

And dear kami-sama, she paled, eying the foolish squinty eyed smile the fox was beaming at her, and realized how all of those devastatingly powerful tails were under this idiot brat's control. And that's without talking about the rest of the fox's body!

The copy-nin scratched his head awkwardly. "Maa, it's safer this way. When Naruto-kun gets excited his tails go a wagging, you see. But if I'm here, well, he's forced to acknowledge their pretense and control them."

She turned her gaze towards the lead field medic, the one that had been chatting with Naruto when she arrived. Misunderstanding her look, he immediately started talking. "It was his idea, Hokage-sama, and it's worked wonderfully so far. Naruto-kun hasn't toppled any trees since Kakashi-san sat down on his tails." The man nodded, smiling proudly at the silver fox, and Tsunade was left staring incredulously at the lot of them.

She could feel her brain twitching in disbelief.

With a sigh, she finally focused her gaze on the fox itself . . . on Naruto, she reminded herself. After all, those clear blue eyes could belong to no one else. She scrutinized him a bit, taking note of the constantly fluctuating chakra, as well as how concentrated it seemed. It was probably pretty difficult for the brat to control so much of it and compress it as well. Compressing chakra was extremely difficult, after all. That was what made the Rasengan such a complicated technique to use, let alone master.

Still, the fact that he was compressing his chakra successfully was obvious. It was probably _because_ the brat knew the Rasengan that he could pull it off. There was no energy being expelled, and the chakra itself had no projection of intent. From what she understood of the Kyuubi, the fox gave off a constant amount of bloodlust and, well, _presence_.

It was in its nature to do so.

The fact the silver fox was doing neither of those things meant Naruto already had more control of those aspects of the chakra than the Kyuubi itself did.

Circling around the fox without saying anything (wrapping her already abused head around this was not all that easy after all), she signaled for her guards. "I want a squad of ANBU here at once, and I want that gate closed," she told them, gesturing to the western entrance. "Until I know what's going on here, I don't want anyone stumbling into this and causing a panic."

_"Ne, ne, Tsunade-baachan? Can you turn me back to normal? While it's really cool being like this, I wanna go check on everyone else. Tetsu-niisan,"_ the fox nodded at the medic squad leader, _"said that Neji and Chouji were in real bad shape."_

She stared and asked, "It really _is_ you, isn't it?" Standing as close as she was, she extended a hand and felt the silver fur under her fingers. It felt soft and silky; real. Though she already knew, thanks to what had been reported to her, that it was made out of chakra. "Remarkable," she muttered under her breath.

_"Baachan?"_ Naruto, for it really _was_ him, asked her with a pitiful look on his foxy face.

The fact that the boy's voice was coming from the fox's whole body was more than a bit strange as well.

Still, the next time she spoke, she looked him in the eye, "I'll be straight with you, Naruto. Getting you back to normal anytime soon will be almost impossible. I need to check on you thoroughly and understand what's happened before I even attempt to do anything. Not only that, but we'll have to wait until Jiraiya returns to Konoha so that he can check on the seal. He's the only one who understands it fully."

_"Oh,"_ Naruto remarked dully, long ears bending droopily halfway. _"Well,"_ he perked up, _"I guess I can wait. Tetsu-niisan was helping me with my control to see if I can get my voice to come out right. It sounds way too creepy as it is,"_ he nodded, a slow grin making its way back onto his muzzle, _"And anyways, you didn't tell me about Neji and Chouji, baachan, are they alright? Can I go see them? And Sasuke too,"_ he added the last as an afterthought, scrunching his face, "_And Sakura-chan, she should know that we're back!" _he finished excitedly, and she watched as his tails started twitching and Kakashi poked them with chakra-charged fingers. _"Sorry, Kakashi-sensei,"_ the boy-turned-fox told the man sheepishly.

"That's alright Naruto, you're getting much better at it, though if you're stuck in this form for the time being, training you to control it better wouldn't be amiss."The look Kakashi sent her way was more direct than she had ever seen from him.

Nodding slowly, she looked up at those blue, blue eyes and smiled. It was slow but it was there. Even with his body gone and his situation so uncertain, the boy was not giving up. Indeed, he wasn't even all that worried about himself, but his friends and comrades. He just kept getting up and kept walking forward. In fact, she wouldn't be too surprised if, on the off chance he had to stay as he was, he would declare it wouldn't be a problem and he'd become the first foxy Hokage in the world.

She grinned at that thought and rubbed the silver furred neck. "The Hyuuga and Akimichi are both out of danger and should be resting at the moment, brat," she answered him fondly, finally coming to terms to the situation, "so visiting them wouldn't be a good idea. The fact that you're a nine tailed fox would probably scare the shit out of them right now."

Naruto looked somewhat put down at this, especially as what she said seemed to sink in. _"Ne, Tsunade-baachan, Kakashi-sensei, do you think that they'll hate me now?"_ he asked.

The copy-nin put his book down and shot his student a smile. "They'll be surprised at first, and maybe even scared, but you just have to show them that you're still you and they'll all accept you. I'm sure of it."

_"Yeah . . ."_ Naruto nodded, looking slightly more cheery.

At that point, the ANBU squad she requested arrived, paused, looked at Naruto and then at her for direction; tense. They would attack at the merest gesture from her, but she told them to stand down. "From a perimeter and stand guard, I don't want anyone to notice what's happening here."

She didn't have to explain what she wanted to hide, obviously.

They dispersed at her signal and with a sigh, she gestured at Kakashi to move. "I need you to stand up, Naruto. Good. Tetsu, right? Give me a summary of your findings." And with that, she activated one of the most generic of diagnostic techniques and set to work, glad that her reserves were full.

She hadn't used any chakra to make the Akimichi's antidote, after all.

Listening with half an ear and verifying his statements slowly, she began to get a better picture of what she was dealing with. She was even using the same technique he had used. She noted the density of the chakra, the distribution of the cells in it, the existence and continuing strength of the seal, along with the fact that the Kyuubi was nowhere to be found.

It was strange, however, that the seal was even present. From how it manifested with the use of the boy's chakra, she had always assumed that it was anchored into his chakra coils. But with his body dissolved and his coils with it, then what was the seal latched on to? The chakra itself?

She'd have to ask Jiraiya about it.

Still, the preliminary analysis and report had been completely accurate. It was hard to believe, actually. How could the boy even be alive in this condition? He was, in all actuality, a walking, talking ball of chakra.

It should be impossible. And yet, here he was.

Stepping back a bit, she called one of her guards over. "Get me Hyuuga Hikari. She's off duty right now, but I need both her eyes and her expertise."

"Tsunade-sama?" Kakashi spoke up, clearly worried about his student.

Which reminded her; "Kakashi, I'd like to hear your report, and if you've used your Sharingan on Naruto, I wouldn't mind hearing your interpretation of his condition. I need to know how stable his chakra is before I use any of my more invasive techniques."

Nodding, Kakashi followed her a ways away and gave a full accounting of it; from leaving the village to tracking down Naruto and the Uchiha in the Valley of the End, and what he had seen there. To say Tsunade was proud of the gaki would be an understatement. After all, and the evidence so far pointed to it: the brat had literally destroyed the Kyuubi by himself. That he had removed Orochimaru's curse seal afterwards was nothing short of amazing.

She had tried to find a way to get rid of it herself, but she had neither the time nor the knowledge to do so. In fact, it was one of the first things she'd check once she saw Uchiha Sasuke.

How had he been able to do it, though? _That_ was the question that plagued her mind.

When Kakashi finished his report, she nodded and watched Naruto as he and the medic-nin, Tetsu, spoke about chakra. It looked like the man was really trying to help him find a way to project his voice from his mouth, with little success.

"Why silver?" she asked suddenly, gaining a look from Kakashi; he'd probably wondered the same thing.

"I have a theory about that, actually," the copy-nin said, and she gestured for him to get on with it. "You know of the Hatake White Fang, right? The chakra it emitted was completely white, hence the name, but that was because it only channeled the light side of chakra; the 'pure', the yang."

"Are you saying that Naruto somehow purified the Kyuubi's chakra? Or converted it into positive chakra?" she asked. It made sense, though it didn't exactly fit with the facts.

"Actually, I was thinking more on the idea that he neutralized it," The Jonin explained, "That he ground his own chakra against the Kyuubi's and somehow was able to harmonize it completely, making a new type chakra. Not yin or yang, nor completely light or dark. But a perfectly balanced mixture of the two; why it would look silver, I haven't a clue, but then, making perfectly balanced, perfectly _neutral_ chakra has eluded the world since the discovery of chakra itself."

"That . . ." she was almost going to shoot the theory down, but paused as she saw that thick silver chakra ripple across Naruto's form, "_is_ a possibility, though we would need to run some tests to verify it." She sighed and thought about it closely, "At least it's a starting point."

"It's the best thing I've been able to come up with," Kakashi admitted. "I have to ask, however; when does Jiraiya-sama return? We could really use him right about now."

Seeing the ANBU come back with Hyuuga Hikari, she nodded at Kakashi, "He should be back by tomorrow afternoon at the earliest, though I don't know at what time. For now, all we can do is check that Naruto is in no danger while in this condition."

"Hai, Tsunade-sama."

She walked over to the new arrivals, not surprised at the expression on the Hyuuga's face. Hikari was a middle-aged medic that specialized in chakra-based afflictions, something her Byakugan helped her with. At the moment, she might very well be the foremost expert on the subject, actually. "That is Uzumaki Naruto; all evidence points to the fact that the boy has banished the Kyuubi completely, but at the cost of his body," she explained.

The Hyuuga slowly nodded, gaining a thoughtful expression as Tsunade went on to explain the details of the boy's condition as well as why she had called her there.

Surprised, Hikari looked at her sharply. "He is nothing but chakra, you say? How is that possible, Tsunade-sama? He looks too solid."

"You need to remember this is not normal chakra, but that of a Bijuu's, which is considered to be the most powerful there is. It's the reason why I called you here. Kakashi's sharingan can't pierce his chakra. He can see the surface of it, but I need to know just how stable it is and what shape it is taking on the inside. I also need to know if any part of Naruto's body remains intact."

"I see, but if the sharingan couldn't see through it. . ." Hikari trailed off, looking uncertain.

"And that's why I need you to use your byakugan. Maybe your more expansive vision will be able to get more details. As is, the thickness and concentration of the chakra blocks the sharingan's perception too much. Not to mention its field of vision is too narrow."

"I'll give it a try, Tsunade-sama."

"Good, come with me, then," she told the medic as they made it close to Naruto. "Oi, brat!"

The fox turned, the pug still sprawled atop his head, _"What is it, baachan? Can I go into the village now? Oh, and you should come check this out, Tetsu-niisan is teaching me how to move my chakra around better."_ And before she could make a comment she saw as the tail directly in front of him turn slowly into the rough shape of a hand. If the expression on his face was any indication, the concentration needed was pretty high.

"That's pretty good, Naruto, but why. . ." she trailed off as Tetsu stepped forward, "Yes?"

"I was thinking, Hokage-sama, that if he could shape the hands to create the circuit necessary for them, he'd be able to use techniques, and maybe even use the Transformation to hide his appearance until he can get back to normal." She looked at him, considering this, and nodded. It was a sound idea, though again, they didn't know enough yet.

It could be that without the coils, even if Naruto _could _shape hands out of his chakra and do the hand-seals, he wouldn't be able to perform the technique. After all, it was the flow of chakra between the twisting coils, the connection and loop created by the clasped hands and the more specific shapes of the hands as the chakra flowed from one arm to the other —through the matching tenketsu of the hands, which varied depending on the hand-seal— from one side of the body to the other, which allowed a shinobi to perform most of their techniques.

True, one could learn to shape the chakra into a technique without the hand-seals, or the loop created by the linking arms, but it took practice and an understanding on the flow of one's chakra. Naruto, while made completely out of chakra at the moment, didn't have the tools necessary to perform techniques. . . . Unless it was a technique he was already very familiar with, since then he'd be at least able to recreate the flow of chakra necessary. Even then it would be pretty difficult. It wouldn't be possible if he didn't know it in the first place.

In fact, the kid would probably need to learn how to shape chakra in a completely different way. After all, a Bijuu, as far as she knew, could only use pure shape and elemental manipulation, though she'd have to do some research on that. Maybe the kid still had chakra coils. The question in such a case would become; are they the same as a shinobi's?

As things stood, they'd have to do research in a lot of things.

Shaking her head from her thoughts and theories, she turned her attention back to the medic. "It's a good idea, but it's possible that he'll need to learn to shape his chakra in a completely different way now. As is, we have too little information. It might be that he'll need more than human hands to perform ninja techniques. It's something to keep in mind, though." Turning her head, she saw that Hikari already had her byakugan activated, sweat beading her forehead. "What can you see? I need you to concentrate especially in the flow and stability of his chakra. I want to know if the use of my techniques will disrupt it."

Hikari nodded and seemed to focus even more. "I— I can't see all that much, Tsunade-sama. The chakra is simply too tightly packed, and too dense in and of itself."

"Ah!" Kakashi exclaimed from beside her, startling Hikari and interrupting her concentration, hitting the bottom of his fist on his open palm in a ridiculously serious way.

Naruto snickered and Tetsu looked incredulously at the copy-nin.

"Well, what is it Kakashi?" she demanded. The man wouldn't have interrupted without good reason.

"I have a question first," he told Hikari, "can you see the whole of him? Inside and out?"

The Hyuuga medic slowly nodded, "I can, but it's like looking through a dense fog."

"So, if the chakra were less compressed, you'd be able to see well?" Kakashi asked her.

"What are you getting at, Hatake?" Tsunade asked him, even as Hikari nodded.

"It's simple Tsunade-sama. Have you forgotten how big the Kyuubi actually was?" she was about to snap at the copy-nin when his question registered and realization lit her features. "Exactly, Naruto has been compressing his chakra as much as possible, though he hasn't been able to get any smaller or compress himself any more than he is now," he gestured to the attentive looking fox, who, even at his small size was more than three and a half meters tall, sans the ridiculously long ears.

"I see," and she did see. "From what you saw in the Valley, how big did he get?"

"He reached about three quarters of Gamabunta's size before he was able to take control of the fox's chakra and begin compressing it. I would guess if he stopped compressing it altogether he would probably take the Kyuubi's full size."

Jaws dropped at such a statement, and Tsunade couldn't help but think about the implications. For decades the Hidden Villages had tried to harness the power of the Bijuu, and failed to do so completely and without great risk to their containers and their surroundings, and here she was with that same power under the complete control of a fervently loyal shinobi of Konoha.

In fact, she eyed the field medic again; if Naruto learned how to mould chakra into techniques . . . well, the possibilities were _staggering_.

She could only be grateful that it was Naruto who had this kind of power. Anyone else would have exploited it for their own ends or been unscrupulous in its use. Anyone else could have used it against Konoha or followed orders blindly. She knew if he was ordered to use this new power without a good reason the results wouldn't be pretty. The boy would refuse, period. If pushed to use his power without good reason, even by Konoha, Naruto would refuse again . . . violently.

She couldn't help but think that as a good thing, however.

Thinking Kakashi's words over, she turned towards the fox. "Naruto! Can you increase in size until you're half as tall as the village walls? And keep your tails down! I don't want someone to see them flailing from inside the village."

_"Ossu!"_ was her only response before the silver fox grew steadily bigger, and she marveled at how careful the boy was while doing it. How could he have so much control of that amount of chakra already?

When he reached the required size and stopped growing, the chakra rippled, turning once again into fur.

It made her think, as she remembered how he was able to change the shape of his tail, that it might be a good idea to get him to make himself look more like a real fox and less like a demon fox. Looking up at him critically, she thought it wouldn't take too many changes to actually pull it off, which should make it easier on Naruto in the long run.

In fact, if they managed to make him more innocent looking, with wider eyes, fluffier tails and normal ears and such, the village would be more opened to the idea of him and what he had done.

Oh, it wouldn't put everyone at ease, or make it all that much easier, but it was something to think about.

"I can see more clearly now," Hikari announced, having already activated her bloodline. "It's incredible, really. I still remember when the Kyuubi attacked; the amount of chakra the demon was expelling completely disrupted our vision. But now. . ." the medic trailed off, and let out a small grunt as the bunging white eyes seemed to focus, "I can _see_. Tsunade-sama, his chakra, while fluctuating, is completely stable and flowing smoothly. I think the fluctuations are because his mind is unconsciously trying to shape the chakra into a human form."

"So it's safe for me to use my techniques on him?" Tsunade asked, relived. She'd be able to see what was really going on if that was the case.

"Certainly, ma'am. In fact, from what I'm seeing, you could probably sever one of his legs and the chakra will simply reform back into place. It would certainly explain why we weren't able to damage the Kyuubi when it attacked." Hikari paused before making a few hand-signs, probably to change her vision in some way. "I can't see any trace of the boy's body, though," she reported, "but there _is_ a small, glowing crystal where the heart is."

"Heart?" she asked, startled, though she knew it had to be her grandfather's crystal the medic was talking about. Considering its properties, it might well have a hand on Naruto being in so much control.

"Hai, he has all of the organs, bones and muscles of a regular fox present, at least I think he does, but they are made out of pure chakra; the bones being the densest. If I were to guess, should the boy ever learn to control them, he'd be able to manipulate them freely. At the moment, they are just shaped by chakra and are not truly connected."

"I see," she nodded as the Hyuuga deactivated her eyes. "Naruto? Return to the size you were before, would you?"

The fox was sporting a confused expression, though it looked like he was puzzling things out on his own.

Now that she thought about it, didn't it mean that he had a brain made out of chakra? And if he did, what was it capable of? Was it better or simply different? And if so, in what way? It had seemed strange just how quiet and attentive the kid was, but maybe that was it; his attention span alone was higher than ever. Could it be that without a physical brain Naruto was actually able to focus better?

Why would that be, though? She hadn't heard of any studies linking the brain with a person's ability to become distracted. Or maybe it was because of something else?

After all, the demon fox wasn't there anymore. Though the seal was present, it wasn't holding anything. Could it be the seal required conscious or subconscious thought to keep it strong? Could it have taken from the boy's attention just to keep the fox imprisoned?

It was a matter for later examination, that's for sure.

Right now she needed to learn as much as she possible could. In fact — "Alright. Hikari, I know that you're off duty, but I need you to go back into the village and gather a team of chakra specialists and any others you might think would help. Collect any equipment necessary that would aid in figuring out what has happened to Naruto. Kakashi here has a theory about how the boy's chakra is now completely neutral—"

The Hyuuga medic gasped at the implications of that and Tsunade nodded.

"We aren't sure if that's the case, but I need to know if it's true or not. You have my permission to bring the tools necessary for us to prove or disprove that theory."

"I understand, Tsunade-sama. Where would I set this up? Bringing him into the village now would be a disaster."

Tsunade thought about it a bit, going through easily accessible places in her mind; where they would be able to get in without attracting any attention. "Right! Set up in the bunker on the western mountains, the one located closest to the wall. After the invasion it was emptied out for maintenance, and since it's the closest to the wall, it hasn't been resupplied yet."

"Hai, Tsunade-sama."

She gestured for one of her two ANBU guards and he appeared beside the medic. "I need complete secrecy on this. Help her with her tasks and try to keep this as low key as possible. Only debrief the other specialists once they are secure in the bunker. I don't want this to leak out before I'm ready for it.

She dismissed them and turned to Naruto, who was looking at her curiously, looking somewhat sad. _"Does that mean I won't be able to go into the village?"_

"I'm sorry, Naruto, but if you do that now you'll only cause a panic." She did the seals for her most powerful 'what-the-hell-is-wrong-with-you' technique. "I need to see what happened to you in detail and then present that evidence to the shinobi of the village. I don't want them to attack first and ask questions later, so the best course of action is to answer any questions before they have a need to ask them. There's only so much a shinobi will do under orders, and frankly, if they see a nine-tail fox walking down the street, they won't take it very well."

She paused for a moment, amazed at the way the chakra was preserving Naruto's cells, at how it was _producing more_, before continuing her explanation. "We'd also need to wait for them to settle down and accept the news before we bring you out. From what I'm seeing now, what Tetsu-san told you is rather accurate; you can reform your body once again, probably revolutionizing medicine while you're doing so. But, it'll take time, a whole lot of work and better control over your chakra. Frankly, you'll have to become a medic to do it."

_"What? Why can't you just do it yourself, baachan?"_ he whined, giving him a pathetic look over his shoulder. _"I mean, my chakra control completely sucks, ask Kakashi-sensei! He'll tell you." _The fox nudged the copy-nin with his nose,as if telling him to corroborate his words.

Tsunade looked over at Kakashi, who was once again sitting atop Naruto's tails, and raised an eyebrow. The Jonin just gave her a smile, "What Naruto says is true Tsunade-sama. His chakra control _did_ suck." The emphasis on put on that last sentence wasn't lost on her; since the boy was chakra now, his control would depend completely on his focus now.

She nodded, but continued her examination. If she focused enough on the flow of chakra, she could make out the chakra-made bones and muscles. In fact, the cells of Naruto's original body were all scattered in the correct places. They weren't linked however; they were just floating in the chakra, suspended. And unless the boy learned how to put them together himself, he wouldn't be able to reform his body.

And she told him so.

After all, someone who had mastered the rasengan in only a week couldn't really suck at controlling chakra. Not to mention now that he _was _chakra, and wouldn't have to worry about molding it and all that it implied, the kid would only need to learn how to use it precisely.

Of course, she didn't tell him that now. It would spoil whatever fun she'd be able to get out of this.

"Besides," she continued explaining, "If you learn medical ninjutsu, apart from being able to link all of your cells together, you'll be able to even learn how to generate them, and use them in conjunction to remake your body from nothing."

Dear Kami, the possibilities that doing such a thing opened! The more she learned the more excited she became!

"And just imagine Naruto, if you are able to accomplish that. If you can gain control of this, you'll be able to do _so much_," she told him, standing in front of him after finishing her diagnosis and looking into his wide blue eyes as she became more impassioned. "You could generate blood, create skin, make a heart, lungs, kidneys, bones, you name them! Can't you see? You'd become the absolute best healer in the world; reproducing everything your patient might need on the spot!"

She grabbed a hold of his giant head, seeing his ever widening eyes as realization entered them, "In fact, if you could use your chakra to absorb cells from other people, you could recreate their own organs again! Kami, if you do learn how to recreate _your_ body, you could conceivably change it at will, or use other people's genetic make-up as your own; you could make your body taller, stronger, and faster. You could change your own face, your entire structure. Anytime you wish. Do you understand what I'm trying to say?"

Naruto just nodded dumbly within her grasp, a silly smile slowly lightening his features as Kakashi summed it up in a few short words: "You could become the perfect shinobi."

And watching those absolutely blue eyes, Tsunade wondered if those were actual stars twinkling inside of them.

_"Will I . . . will I really be able to do all that?"_ Naruto asked, sounding somewhat dazed.

"I think you can, brat," she told him fondly.

"Besides," Kakashi spoke offhandedly, "You do know that now you really _are_ the Kyuubi, right? The most powerful of the Bijuu? If you learn to control your own chakra as precisely as a medic, you'll become unstoppable. After all, it took one of the strongest shinobi that Konoha has ever produced to seal the Kyuubi away, and even that is out of the question now."

"What do you mean, Kakashi?" she asked, not knowing where that last statement came from, even if she did acknowledge all the others.

The copy-nin closed his book and poked Naruto on the nose, "Did you check the condition of the seal, Tsunade-sama?"

"Yes, it's stronger than ever—" she cut herself off, eyes wide in realization.

"_What, what?"_ Naruto asked impatiently, fox head looking from one to the other.

"Naruto, there is a very basic rule of sealing. It's impossible to seal a seal within another. Especially if that seal is active. And you, Uzumaki Naruto, have one of the most powerful, complicated seals ever made attached to your chakra," she explained.

"And since one of the only ways ever found to defeat the Kyuubi was through sealing him away . . ." Kakashi hinted.

_"Then, no one can do the same thing to me!"_ Naruto said in realization.

"Exactly," Tsunade told him, proud that the kid had been able to figure that out. "However, while there might be no easy way to outright kill you, if you ever gain enough control of your chakra, that is," she clarified, "there are other things you might want to watch out for."

_"Like what?"_ Naruto asked.

She gestured him to wait a moment as her ANBU guard returned from accompanying Hikari. "Tsunade-sama, the bunker will be ready in about fifteen minutes," he informed her.

"Good. I want the guards of this gate debriefed and informed that what they have seen is a B-class secret. Answer any questions they might have, but make it clear to them that revealing any information without my say-so will be considered treason." She paused and looked around, before focusing on the ANBU, "In fact, just tell them to follow us to the bunker and find someone to take their place. It's better if we don't take any chances until we can release the information safely."

Dismissing them, she told Naruto to follow and ordered everyone else to do the same. It would take about twenty minutes to reach the bunker as it was.

As she prepared to set off, she stopped when Naruto crouched down and raised an eyebrow when Kakashi climbed onto his back. "How did you think we got to the village so fast, Tsunade-sama? It actually took us longer to creep around to this gate unnoticed than to reach the village proper."

She blinked, "Then why didn't you at least send the Uchiha with the medic's before you did all this sneaking about?" she asked the copy-nin, incredulous.

Kakashi rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

The answer, however, didn't come from the source she was expecting, but from a stupidly grinning fox, _"Maa, baachan, it's because a black cat was blocking our path and we decided it was better to avoid it. The bad luck could have worsened Sasuke's condition, and we didn't want that."_

Her eyebrow twitched when Kakashi actually beamed in pride. "My cute little Genin is all grown up now," he declared while ruffling the fox's fur.

"Just . . . shut up, both of you, and follow me," and here she was going to explain something useful to that brat. Well, he could very well learn on his own.

"I think you pissed her off, Kakashi," a rather deep voice spoke up.

"I think you're right, Pakkun."

_"Ne, ne, aren't you going to keep telling me what I need to watch out for, Tsunade-baachan?" _Naruto piped up.

She just ignored the lot of them and started walking.

-o

**TBC . . .**

-o

_**Pickled Brains:**_ What do ya'll think? Pick your brains a bit, stir-fry them and send them my way in the form of a juicy review. I'm hungry for them!


	3. Third

_**I Disclaim **_ownership of Naruto.

_**Alert!**_ Boy-love will smack you in the face if you're not careful! Some spoilers from the latest Manga chapters are present as well!

_**Pickled Brains:**_ Okay, I have to admit I'm pretty hooked on the idea of this story. Maybe because I get to go overboard with Naruto's abilities or because I can't keep the picture of a hyperactive kid like him as a ten story tall fox outta my head.

Just thinking about it makes me smile and giggle (in a completely devious, _manly_, evil way, of course).

Now, this chapter marks the end of my foundation-setting. After this, Naruto himself comes into it to brighten thinks up! Still, read on and leave me a review!

-o

**Third Chapter  
**_of_**  
Transcendence**

-o

The westernmost bunker on the mountain was mostly used to store supplies of all sorts, should the need to defend the walls arise. As such, it was smaller than most of Konoha's hiding places, and while quite secure it wasn't a strategic point within the village's defenses. At most, it was just a place for Leaf-nin to resupply quickly while in battle, or to set up a closer point of retreat.

Because of Orochimaru's invasion a lot of the supplies stored in it had been moved to other, more needful, places. It hadn't taken much to clear what remained and convert it into something they could use.

With Tsunade in the lead, their rather big procession snuck into the bunker somewhat undetected. Using every trick they could to hide the three meter tall, nine-tailed silver fox that tip-toed ridiculously in the middle of their party. With the ANBU spread out and keeping a perimeter, the liberal use of genjutsu, and enough orders and security codes being spilt from Tsunade's mouth to make her thirsty, well, it was a wonder they made it as fast as they did.

Not that they didn't leave quite a number of curious shinobi in their wake, of course. Thankfully, when an ANBU tells you that you don't need to know what's happening, few dare to argue. When they tell you to look the other way for a few moments, everyone knows the best thing to do was to shut up for now and look for gossip later.

Still, it wasn't until the entire group was inside, the massive (but still hidden) doors closed behind them, that multiple sighs of relief were expelled. Tsunade saw the three gaping medics standing along with Hyuuga Hikari at the entrance, and looking around she was surprised at the amount of people who already knew about this.

Shit.

"Right, let's see who the hell we have here," she called for everyone's attention; the three member field medic squad that had come with Kakashi and Naruto were standing in a white cluster, looking tired but relaxed. The ANBU squad, who numbered four, were scattered around the edges of the entrance corridor, and her own guard detail was right behind her.

That was six ANBU altogether.

If you added the two Chuunin gate guards as well, that made eighteen people, counting herself, Kakashi and the bratty fox.

Crossing her arms, she surveyed the lot of them. "Alright, Hikari?" she asked the Hyuuga, who stepped forward, "You're in charge of the medics and the field team, so Tetsu, was it? Your team is to help her in figuring out what happened to the brat. The faster you do it, the faster you'll be able to get out of here," she gestured at one of the ANBU, "gather enough supplies for those staying in this bunker to last a week, at least."

When that ANBU nodded, she called on another. "You're in charge of informing family and friends about their unexpected assignment and of collecting any personal effects. Make sure that those working here are comfortable." Turning to the two Chuunin she noted that they understood the seriousness of the situation. "You both are to make sure that no one who isn't here can enter unless I accompany them personally is that understood? For now, help the medics set everything up. Later on, we'll figure out a better distribution of duties."

Turning to the two remaining ANBU, she gestured to the tunnel leading to the rest of the bunker. "Make sure this place is secure. I want alarms set up to catch any intruders. After the trouble we had getting in here, I've no doubt some will become curious."

"Tsunade-sama?" Kakashi spoke up before she could give him a task of his own.

"Yes?"

"Would it be possible for me to go and check on Sasuke?" he asked.

She eyed him for a moment, ignoring the pleading expression from the silver fox. "Why?" she asked. She knew Kakashi wouldn't just want to 'check up' on the Uchiha, so the man had to have an ulterior motive.

"Ah, well, Sasuke was able to see Naruto as he is now. If he were to wake up and say something . . ." he trailed off, his lazy gestures expressive enough to make his point.

"And what do you want me to do with him, then?" She already had a fair idea, and it wasn't a bad plan. Especially with all the specialists that could check in on him and the consequences of having the curse seal removed already in this bunker. In fact, the boy's medical treatment should have already been over, so bringing him here for observation would really be for the best. The fact that an ANBU squad was already keeping guard here and that Naruto wouldn't let the little Uchiha go without raising a fuss, took care of the security of the matter rather nicely.

In fact, with how stretched the villages resources were at the moment, the more she could streamline this operation, the better.

When Kakashi began to explain what she was already thinking, she waved him off. "Fine, go now and secure the boy. Make sure he is unconscious when you move him here, though."

With a nod, Kakashi disappeared, everyone dispersing into the bunker as he did, with the field medic, Tetsu, leading Naruto deeper into the tunnels.

Hyuuga Hikari, thankfully, remained behind.

"I sealed most of the equipment we would need and brought them here, Tsunade-sama, but you'll need to confirm you authorized their move in person before people start getting suspicious," the Hyuuga informed her.

"I'll do so when I get out of here," she told the woman absently, nodding when her ANBU guards returned from their security sweep and disappeared from sight. Satisfied when the Chuunin also took up stations, she turned her full attention on the medic. "Alright, you're in charge of the medics here, Hikari. The ANBU will take care of security. Later today I'll come along and we'll hold a briefing so everyone's on the same page, but regardless, I'll be leaving Kakashi in overall command of this operation. Make sure those working with you know that that fox is Naruto, and that Kyuubi is gone for good, understand?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Then I want you to run every test you can think of on that brat. While finding out if his chakra is neutral is one of our goals, at the moment I'm more interested in finding ways to get him his body back. I want ideas when I get back . . . and answers."

The Hyuuga straightened up in response, and Tsunade smirked at the image of Naruto being poked and prodded to hell and back. However, it was all for the gaki's own good. "You can count on us, Tsunade-sama."

"Good."

With a sharp nod, she and her guards left. She still needed to settle things in the hospital, check in at the Tower, make sure that mission assignments were on track, and smooth things over so Naruto's absence and the sudden habitation of the bunker didn't become too noticeable. Hopefully, by the end of the day she'd be able to go over the results of some of the tests and come up with a solution to the boy's dilemma, or at least a better sense of what to do.

But before all of that, she needed some sake, and she needed it _now_.

**-O●O●O●O-**Black eyes snapped open and stared blankly ahead before wearily taking the room in. When they didn't find anything or anyone, they flashed, taking Kakashi aback.

Thankfully, the sharingan eyes faded back to black in a moment, and he hoped he hadn't been detected. With the boy suffering from chakra exhaustion, it was a wonder he could even open his eyes in the first place. From the grimace on Sasuke's features, he was also sure that forcing the dojutsu to activate had been painful. Kakashi remembered being in the same situation enough times to sympathize; but only the barest amount.

In truth, he didn't know what to think of his student. He didn't understand why the boy had done what he did.

But he intended to find out.

He just needed to think on where to start. At the moment, he had not the slightest idea. Why had Sasuke left? What were his reasons? Was it his own choice, or had he been influenced in some way?

The curse seal made everything all the more difficult, since they didn't know much about it and its effects on a person.

Kakashi's thoughts were interrupted by the only occupant of the room before they could go any further. "Naruto," the Uchiha uttered in a low voice, as if the name itself explained his situation. It surprised Kakashi that Sasuke didn't spit the name out like a curse; in fact, there was a grudging respect in his tone and a certain amount of weariness as well. The thing that truly took Kakashi aback, however, was the near infinitesimal amount of relief in his student's features. Had his normal eye not been closed and Obito's sharingan open, its tomoe spinning lazily around the pupil, he doubted he would've been able to pick up the gesture.

What did it mean, though?

Watching silently for any other sign that would shed light on the situation, he waited, and minutes passed. But Sasuke remained silent and calm. Looking at him, Kakashi saw something else he could not ignore; the boy's face was smooth, relaxed. The strain he now knew had been there since he came out from the Forest of Death had disappeared; something he had before dismissed as a consequence of the stress and pressure he was putting on himself. The corners of Sasuke's eyes weren't as tight either; his mouth wasn't downturned in the beginnings of a scowl or a grimace. The boy wasn't as twitchy and strained.

This changed things. Kakashi thought Sasuke would try to escape; that he'd become angered and calculating. He'd hidden in the room and observed him with his sharingan so he could spot any attempt on the younger shinobi's part.

The last thing he expected was to see a compliant Uchiha, much less a seemingly relieved one.

Maybe, just maybe, Sasuke was not beyond hope . . . or out of reach.

With this in mind, he stepped out of the shadows silently and sat down in a nearby chair, covering his sharingan as he did so.

"Kakashi." It was an acknowledgment, though the boy didn't look at him. Those black eyes remained fixed on the ceiling, looking pensive and worn out now that he was in the open. He stopped himself from being surprised any longer; it was clear something else was afoot in this situation. Something he wasn't aware of.

Silence permeated the room for long minutes but Kakashi wasn't the one to break it. While he wasn't an interrogation specialist, he knew a few things. And right now, he just didn't have enough information.

However, what he'd been able to pick up from Sasuke was at odds with what he knew of the boy.

At the moment he could only think back and wonder where his student had gone astray. If he could pinpoint the problem it would make it easier to evaluate how much of a risk the boy truly was. Had it been his quick, sharp reprimand before going on his last mission that drove the Uchiha to Orochimaru? Only now, looking back on it, did he see it as a bad move on his part.

Sasuke had been exposed to the snake-nin and marked with his curse seal, and later experienced defeat after defeat; his efforts and training seeming paltry when compared to Naruto's own achievements in the same amount of time. Then he suffered Itachi's _tsukuyomi_ and faced his brother's disinterest, if Gai's account of events were to be believed. There were other instances that, while small, could very well have tipped the scales of Sasuke's psyche; like seeing the rasengan when compared to the chidori.

Only now could he imagine the boy's utter frustration; it had been piling up for _months_.

Since that eventful first mission in Wave and the young Uchiha's first defeat at the hand of Zabuza's subordinate.

In fact, Kakashi could see that isolating Sasuke on his training for the chuunin exam finals had been a bad choice as well. It had allowed the boy to stew and fester on Orochimaru's words. Kakashi hadn't been kind to Sasuke either; his training had been harsh and impersonal, and then he had acted like nothing had happened and left Sasuke to deal with the curse seal without support, explanation or encouragement.

On top of that, only he and Sakura had known of the curse seal itself. While it was Sasuke's wish, he could see how keeping it a secret from Naruto had been detrimental. That knucklehead would have provided everything Sasuke would have needed without a conscious thought; without knowing, without asking, Naruto would have grounded Sasuke and made him see his own worth. With knowledge of the seal, Naruto might have been inclined to explain his own progress and talk about his own burden, bringing things into perspective for the Uchiha.

In a way, the fact that the blond hadn't known made things worse, since the boy treated Sasuke no differently. Naruto kept pushing at the Uchiha, kept improving himself, kept remarking and highlighting his accomplishments with boasts and taunts still thinking and acting on their early rivalry, while Sasuke himself took each of Naruto's words as a near physical blow, hurting his mind, wounding his pride, highlighting his supposed lack of progress.

Not to mention that the only person who had been able to crack through Sasuke's self-imposed isolation had been the blond ball of sunshine and empathy himself, making any of his remarks, made in ignorance and believing that Sasuke was fine, stab deeper and hurt more than they should. By the time Naruto noticed anything amiss, the damage was already done; Itachi had taken a raw wound and pored poison on it and let it fester until Naruto had managed to bring Tsunade back and Sasuke awoke from a month of torment; his mental wounds putrid.

For his part, instead of providing at least a minimum of support, what had he done? Nothing.

The last time he'd seen him, he'd been short with his student, tied him to a tree and barely allowed him to speak. And then he'd left only to return and learn of the boy's defection.

"_What_ is Naruto?" Sasuke finally spoke, his eyes clouded now.

The question itself was interesting, and it brought Kakashi back to the present. There was no use for what-ifs, though his journey through memory lane had made a few things clear to him. For one, if he were to answer that question in the current situation, it would be better in the long run to speak truthfully. Kakashi needed to figure out what was going through Sasuke's mind at the moment; he needed answers of his own about what state his student was in. At the same time, giving information to a possible traitor was against every rule on the book.

Yet, he decided to indulge Sasuke this last time; he would give him this one chance. And as actions speak louder than words, Kakashi would look at the boy's reactions instead to answer his own questions.

"He's a sacrifice," he answered the boy carefully.

Those black eyes finally focused as Sasuke stared silently at him; uncomprehending. "But what about that _power_? And what he turned into . . .?" The young shinobi trailed off, looking as if he were relieving the event.

"Naruto is a sacrifice," Kakashi stated again, softly, before explaining. "When the Kyuubi no Kitsune attacked, it could not be killed. To save the village —to protect Konoha— the Yondaime sacrificed himself, his soul, to power the technique that would seal the Bijuu away. However, a being of Kyuubi's power could not be sealed in a regular vessel. Only a newborn whose umbilical cord was recently cut and whose chakra pathways were undeveloped could contain such a being."

Understanding seeped into those dark eyes before they closed. The expression on the boy's face was telling, however, and Kakashi felt a stirring of hope within himself. He had tried to connect to Sasuke before, all of them had. They had tried to draw the boy out and make him part of team seven. Before the Chuunin Exams they had succeeded, but only partly. Their bonds had been fragile still, and Naruto was the only one who'd been able to actually reach the young Uchiha in some significant way; and only now did he understand how deeply their connection ran.

For Sasuke to feel sympathy now; for him to give an expression of understanding this deep after being defeated could only mean that such a bond was still strong. Kakashi had seen it then too, of course, but only partially, and did his best to nurture the bond between them. But he hadn't seen the depth of their relationship; he had though them merely rivals; comrades. Not friends.

From the beginning something had always held Sasuke back in his interactions. He had hoped some of those barriers would drop during the exams; that the self-proclaimed avenger would be able to depend just a little more on his teammates. Never in his wildest dreams had he ever suspected that Orochimaru would come into the picture and ruin it all.

But now; now the curse mark was no more. It's possible influence erased.

And Sasuke looked more vulnerable now than he had ever seen him.

He remembered seeing the boy after the massacre; a blank, emotionless, unresponsive child. Now it was different; as if the floor had been ripped from beneath his feet.

He looked lost.

At that moment ―in that single expression― Kakashi saw a way to nudge Sasuke into another path; to give him someone who he could relate to. Someone he could look up to; someone he could trust. Someone who he knew would help him, even protect him, should he need it. He only hoped that Naruto would forgive him for what he was about to do. That he could carry this burden, even after he had rid himself of the Kyuubi's weight.

"Naruto's mother died at childbirth," he began. A story he had never spoken out loud; a story only a few knew about. But when those black eyes opened and focused on him once again, looking empty, resigned and alone, it was a story he knew would help. Somehow a bond still excited between Sasuke and Naruto; the young Uchiha had been unable to sever it at the Valley of the End. But they had never understood each other. The bond they shared was a tenuous one . . . and he saw a chance here to remedy it, no matter the risk. Nevertheless, it could be his only chance to save his precious student from the consequences of his actions; all of their actions. "She was a strong and passionate kunoichi. Loved my many, she was the last survivor of the Village Hidden in the Whirlpool. And still she gave her life that day for Konoha."

Seeing he had Sasuke's full attention, he focused solely on the boy, doing his best to avoid falling into memory. "Only a few people know of this, but Naruto was born prematurely. His mother found out the only chance Konoha had of surviving was through sealing the Bijuu. But no child was to be born that day. All other newborns had stable chakra pathways by then. Like the Fourth Hokage, she gave her life for this village by inducing labor early and then giving her life by sustaining Naruto through the umbilical cord, avoiding the stabilization of his chakra pathways until the sealing preparations were finished and it could be cut."

Kakashi almost closed his eyes in remembrance of that day. Kushina's determination had been incredible, her resolve unchangeable.

"She died of blood loss. She exhausted herself during the procedure to make sure Naruto could live; so that Konoha could be saved. That day Naruto was sacrificed for the sake of us all. That day he became a Jinchuuriki like Sabaku no Gaara; a cursed existence. A living reminder of the _massacre_ a large part of Konoha's forces suffered at the Fox's hand."

The copy-nin chose his words for maximum impact, and saw success in Sasuke's wide, almost-innocent looking gaze.

Kakashi explained from there and told a tale of sacrifice and loneliness. He told Sasuke things Naruto didn't speak of; that few people even acknowledged. A child sacrificed for their survival only to later be ignored by the populace. Without a loving family, without support, without care or love . . . Naruto grew alone. How his greatest desire was to be acknowledged; to earn the respect of the village.

To find a family of his own.

Even when he entered the academy, Naruto was disregarded. The teachers were reluctant to teach him and sometimes outright ignored him, so the boy had had to forge onward by himself, just as he always had. It made him ill-prepared and under-educated . . . the dead-last. But alone and because of his incredible determination, he still managed to become a shinobi.

He drove it home to Sasuke as much as he could; ruthlessly. "While he might not have lost anyone like you have until the Sandaime's death, his pain was not all that different from yours. He knew deep, earth-shattering loneliness. He found what it meant to lose someone dear to him, someone who he considered family when the Third Hokage perished. And now you've shown him betrayal, just like Itachi showed you."

Kakashi almost relished the wince Sasuke gave at that statement.

"He told me he thought of me as a brother," the younger shinobi muttered absently, rubbing his arms in what Kakashi was sure was a subconscious gesture.

"And you made him use the Kyuubi's tainted power to stop you," he told the boy flatly, "the very source of his pain, of his loneliness. A cursed power he would give up in an instant if he could; a power that eats up at his life, at his body and at his mind." Now he was exaggerating a bit, but he didn't care. Shinobi were supposed to use everything at their disposal to achieve their ends. And seeing that his words were sinking into the boy, shaking him, Kakashi struck.

Quick as lightning, he grasped the Uchiha's chin and locked their gazes together. He almost flinched when he saw the tears gathered at the corner of those black eyes, but he didn't falter, he needed answers now. "Why did you do it Sasuke? Why did you leave?"

"I—I didn't have a choice," Sasuke answered in an almost dead tone of voice. "Right after you talked to me that day, I was attacked by Orochimaru's personal guard. I—I defended myself, but I wouldn't have been able to defeat them, I couldn't do anything, even with the seal active," the boy explained, his words tumbling out of each other now. "It made me so powerful, so strong! The lure was too much! With Naruto growing stronger and stronger and leaving me behind, weak; and with Itachi suddenly interested in him, and not me. I couldn't help it. I _had_ to use it; you understand that, right, Kakashi? Only Orochimaru seemed willing to help me with my goal! His seal made me stronger, faster, my eyes sharper! Sometimes, I lost myself, my reason. But I gained in strength and power! It was a worthy exchange. But, then . . . after our fight, Naruto did something to me. I feel so empty. Where is my rage? My determination? _My Pride!_ Where has it all gone? What's happened to me?" he asked frantically, tears falling from wild eyes, "Tell me Kakashi! Where is my _HATRED_?"

Quickly, he rendered Sasuke unconscious, before the boy could do himself serious harm.

Still, even as convoluted as Sasuke's explanations were, Kakashi had at least some answers now. The problem was that he also had a whole slew of other questions.

Standing up, he gently picked his student up and looked around the room.

A second later, the hospital room was empty, though he was sure to leave a note for Sakura with a nurse.

**-O●O●O●O-**

"Tsunade!" Jiraiya crashed through the window, glass flying everywhere.

Tsunade took one look at the desperate, broken look of her former teammate and knew something had happened. Standing slowly up from behind her desk, she looked around for any threat, extending her awareness as she did so. "What is it?" she asked curtly.

"I came as soon as I heard. Do you know what happened?" Jiraiya babbled at her before sweeping her into a hug.

She didn't want the lecher anywhere _near_ her, however, so she sent the grabby pervert crashing. "What the hell are you talking about you old pervert?" She demanded. With the paperwork for the day almost finished, she was itching to go check on the brat. Which brought the question, "And what the hell are you doing here? You weren't supposed to be back until tomorrow at the earliest!"

"You don't know?" Jiraiya asked from his place in the floor, some sense creeping back into him, though he still looked like the Daimyo had ordered all bathhouses to be closed. Tsunade wasn't used to seeing her old teammate in such a state.

"What don't I know?" She was losing her patience now, her foot tapping impatiently. "Well?" she demanded.

"Naruto — Naruto's dead!" He told her, his voice breaking.

For a moment, her heart stopped. But then, she shook it off. If the brat had died she would have been told immediately. Hell, she would have probably felt it all the way here! Still, for Jiraiya to look like that, it was obvious he thought he was telling the truth. Heck, she should've noticed when he tried to hug her and didn't try to grope her!

She'd taught him not to do that when they were genin, after all. "Where did you hear that?" she asked him.

"Where did I hear it? Where did I hear it?" he asked, standing up suddenly and appearing right in front of her, pissed. "Didn't you hear what I told you? Naruto _is dead!_" A sudden crash from the other side of the door startled her but she focused on the idiot in front of her first.

"Jiraiya!" she snapped. "The brat is not dead, so calm the fuck down and tell me where you heard such a thing!" Without waiting for an answer, she stalked toward the doors and yanked them open, only to find Shizune picking up a box full of papers, tears streaming down her face. "Get in here Shizune," she told her apprentice curtly, before pointing at the closest shinobi, "And you, pick up this mess."

When the door was closed and Shizune was sitting down, she turned to Jiraiya, who looked stunned. "I'm waiting, you pervert!"

"The toads; Naruto's name on the contract faded to black," Jiraiya told her slowly, "they informed me immediately of it and I came running."

Shizune gasped, however. It was common knowledge that when a summoner dies, their link with their summons vanished, their name on the contract —which was linked to their living blood— was burned into the scroll and remained the only record of the accord between animal and shinobi. Of course, since Naruto's body disintegrated, it meant there was no living blood to link him to the toads, and so his name was burned into the scroll.

She hadn't thought of that. At all.

Rubbing her temples, she cursed the brat for giving her another headache.

"He's still alive," she told them, "but something _did_ happen to him."

"The complication," Shizune muttered in realization.

"C'mon, I'll take you to him. In fact, we needed you to check the seal, Jiraiya."

With that, and a glare directed at the remaining paperwork, she stalked off, Shizune and Jiraiya scrambling to follow.

If nothing else, at least the old pervert arrived in the village early. She wanted to make sure the Kyuubi was really gone and the seal wouldn't do anything unexpected. More than anything else, she'd feared a complication in the seal would've happened before Jiraiya showed up. Now, however . . . well, now at least they could find out what happened.

"Wait, Tsunade, what complication is this?" Jiraiya asked when he caught up. "What could have happened to Naruto that would end his contract with the toads?"

Seeing how confused the pervert looked, she started to fill him and Shizune in on what had happened so far, at least in a general way. The disbelief of the two was palpable, of course, but she asked them to wait and see. Really, she could understand why they would be so skeptical. She hadn't believed the field medic either when he'd told her about it. She was a bit irritated that Jiraiya wasn't taking _her_ word for it, however.

Thankfully, they were almost at the bunker and would be able to see Naruto with their own eyes.

She nodded at the two chuunin guards and entered through the door, only to find two ANBU in her path. As soon as the door closed and their identities verified, she walked on, Jiraiya and Shizune now following silently in her wake, even as her security detail stayed behind at the entrance, just to make sure they weren't followed.

The bunker in and of itself wasn't all that big. It had a large reinforced entrance, with smaller storage rooms and armories lining the main hall and a long, wide tunnel that led somewhat deep into the mountainside and ended in a big cavern. Rooms with all the necessities of survival were scattered the length of the tunnel. All of the bunker's walls were reinforced and inaccessible through any way but the entrance. There was a sealed exit at the end of the cavern, obviously, but it could only be unsealed from within the bunker and then, only in case of an evacuation. The small exit led to an even smaller passageway that came out somewhere on the other side of the mountains.

Where, she didn't know.

She acknowledged the two remaining ANBU guarding the end of the corridor and stopped after crossing the threshold. Hyuuga Hikari, her three assistant medics and the three field medics where to her right, occupying more space than they should, with long tables and benches holding scrolls, notes and various diagnostic equipment, not to mention a few odd chakra analyzing doohickeys that she rarely, if ever, saw.

If anything, that lot looked busy as bees.

To her left, a conference table had been prepared in one corner, while the other held a single small bed ―Uchiha Sasuke's unconscious form occupying it― and a nine-tailed, silver fox wound around it, sleeping belly-up . . . one of its hind legs twitching slightly when Kakashi scratched its chin.

Relieved to see no apparent changes on the brat's condition, she turned towards her stupefied companions.

"There, Jiraiya," she gestured to the fox. "Go and check the seal while I get an update from the medics. I'm sure Kakashi can fill you in on everything, and give you the details of what happened." She smirked at the dumbfounded expression on the old pervert's face as he walked cautiously towards the silver fox, but sighed at the blank look on Shizune's. "Naruto is still there, Shizune, just a different body. He's still a goofy little brat under all that chakra and as determined to become Hokage as ever. Just wait until he wakes up and see for yourself."

Shizune nodded slightly through she still looked shaken. Tsunade left it at that; she had little doubt that when the brat woke up, he would convince her apprentice he was still himself.

"Tsunade-sama," Hikari made her presence known, handing her a file which she assumed was full of their conclusions thus far. She flipped through it quickly and headed to the conference table where she could be better debriefed on the situation. Hikari and Shizune followed her, and she handed her apprentice a report of events Kakashi had written after perusing it herself.

She was more interested in Naruto's own account of the mission and what happened in the Valley of the End, which someone had jotted down for him. More important, though, was the brat's perspective on how he ended up as he was.

After reading the report a few times, it took her a bit to skim through most of the data accumulated thus far. There were theories and results to a great many tests, but the picture wasn't complete yet, and she was sure it would take a few more days before any of those theories could be proven to any degree. Still, she was relieved to see Naruto's condition had not fluctuated in the slightest. According to reports, he'd been practicing chakra control and the more time passed, the smoother the flow of his chakra became, and the easier he said he could manipulate it. His cells remained undisturbed too, so he wasn't in any danger of cashing in his chips.

"Alright," she called out when she finished reading, glancing over to Jiraiya, who was engrossed in looking at the sleeping fox's stomach while chatting with Kakashi. "While we wait for the pervert, why don't you fill me in on what isn't in these reports yet, Hikari?"

She didn't let it show, but she was hopeful Jiraiya would have some insight into what happened to the brat. At the same time, her mind was whirling as she tried to come up with a way to link billions upon billions of individual cells and get a boy's body as an end result.

It would be the biggest challenge of her medical career . . . and the first step of Naruto's.

However, when Hikari shuffled her unorganized notes around, Tsunade turned her attention to the matter at hand. "While we have a lot of research ahead of us so we can understand the how's, whys and the possible uses of it, along with how it became the way it is, the more we find, the more the theory of Uzumaki-san's body being made of _neutral_ chakra is validated . . . but not in the way we've always thought neutral chakra would be. We've done the quick elemental affinity tests, and checked his chakra to see the positive and negative ratios," Hikari paused and took a steadying breath. "Tsunade-sama, so far everything we've found points to his chakra having absolutely no leanings, affinities, preferences or predilection. It is, as far as we've been able to ascertain, completely _balanced_."

"Balanced?" Shizune questioned, her apprehension washed away by the seeming impossibility of the Hyuuga's statement.

"Yes, _balanced_. We always assumed that truly neutral chakra would hold no alignment at all; that it would be above preferences and affinities. Pure and impartial, you could say. Uzumaki-san's chakra, however, _does_ have affinities, it _does_ have positive and negative sides, and it isn't at all independent or impartial. It isn't exactly pure, either. What his chakra _is_, however, is all-encompassing; it is in a completely stable equilibrium. Attuned to every element . . . it is both positive and negative in equal measure."

Tsunade sat back in her chair, her mind whirling in new directions. However, before she could ask for more details, her old teammate approached with Kakashi. "Minato was a genius," Jiraiya stated as he sat down on the conference table. He had a scroll in hand and was unsealing writing material from it, probably to take notes on what he'd seen of the seal.

"Is the seal stable?" she asked him. While she wanted nothing more than to find out about this 'balanced' chakra, and how they came to such an off-the-wall conclusion after only some preliminary testing, making sure of Naruto and the seal's condition was paramount.

Jiraiya just laughed at her question. "Stable? Princess, the seal is stronger than it has ever been!" He continued laughing and grinning while rapidly writing on his scrolls. She waited for him to continue, but the pervert completely ignored her.

"Well?" she demanded.

Nothing.

She was about to knock some sense into him when Kakashi cleared his throat. "Tsunade-sama? I have something else to report before we discuss Naruto's condition any further."

Hand closing into a fist, Tsunade glared at Kakashi before looking at Jiraiya; the man was scribbling seals and notes down like he was possessed; his focus complete. She took a deep breath, pushing down her need for answers and her curiosity for later and focused and the Copy-nin.

What she heard during the next minutes left her almost speechless. She's only known the Uchiha a short time; but the boy had been a distant and arrogant little shit in the time she had known him. To hear Kakashi's description of his conversation with the kid was enlightening, to say the least. That his personality seemed so changed also brought about some old suspicions that the Senju had had about the Uchiha Clan as a whole.

"There is only one more thing worth mentioning," the Jonin concluded his report. "When Sasuke first woke up, he activated his sharingan; probably on instinct. However, it wasn't the normal sharingan at all . . . It was silver instead of red."

Looking blankly at the Hatake, the legendary medic blinked once, twice and on the third blink, a hand was already massaging her temples. Right. "When Naruto wakes up, I want a more detailed account of his removal of the Uchiha's curse seal. His report doesn't cover enough if it resulted in a change in the sharingan. Hikari! I know you have your hands full, but run the pertinent tests on the stupid brat's cocky teammate. Later, procure one of the Sound-nin's body from the Hunters and see if Naruto can remove those seals before we call in Mitarashi Anko for a live test."

"Yes, ma'am," the Hyuuga answered while obviously trying to smother her mirth.

Luckily for the medic, Jiraiya finished what he was doing at that very moment. "What is it, then?" She snapped at the pervert when he didn't immediately tell her what he'd found.

Looking uncharacteristically serious, Jiraiya pocketed his scroll. "To understand what happened, I have to give you some background information. As you know, Minato ―the Yondaime― sacrificed his soul to the Shinigami to _power_ the sealing. It is a misconception that the Shinigami is the one who actually sealed the Kyuubi away. The contract with the God of Death is a simple exchange; a soul given for a soul captured. Normally both souls would be consumed by the Shinigami and supposedly battle for eternity inside of his stomach. Minato used the wording of the contract to his advantage, however, since it never stated explicitly where the captured soul should be imprisoned, only that the given soul was the payment needed to summon the Death God."

They were silent while the Toad Sage seemingly gathered his thoughts. "What this means is that while the sealing was made possible because of the Shinigami, since there was no other way of capturing the Kyuubi and hold it long enough to be sealed, that it was Minato who designed the seal that would hold the beast back along with all of its functions." Jiraiya looked around the table and Tsunade noticed the silence in the entire bunker. Everyone was listening to what was being said; in fact, she doubted anyone had even heard of this before.

"The important thing to know is that when the Kyuubi was captured, it was separated into two parts, which were then sealed independently within Naruto. With the Shinigami's power backing him, Minato divided the Kyuubi's mind from its chakra. A small trickle of the Fox's chakra was made to naturally mix with Naruto's, and the seal allowed him to tap into more of it when needed." Jiraiya leaned forward in his seat, fingers interlaced. "The Fourth left behind a key to the seal as well, so that when Naruto was old enough, he could make the Kyuubi's chakra his own by 'taming' the Bijuu."

Shizune gasped at this, and Tsunade was sure they were all trying to imagine what something like that would take. It was Kakashi, however, who gave voice to what they were all thinking. "It seemed that Minato-sensei had planned farther ahead than we all knew, but how would Naruto be able to tame as being like the Kyuubi? Was that what happened at the Valley of the End?"

Jiraiya shook his head, looking deep in thought. "Alright, I'll tell you what _should_ have happened before I explain what _did _happen."

"To command the Kyuubi's power Naruto would have needed to pull out its chakra and make it his own; using the key to be able to tap into all of its chakra, along with its entire mind. However, when trying to take its chakra, the mind of the Nine-Tails would have come along with it; a mass of malevolent hate. The only way to control and 'tame' a Bijuu is to have a strong enough will with no hatred, and filter out the hate from the chakra. This wouldn't have turned Naruto into the Fox, but it would have allowed him to harmonize the Bijuu's chakra with his own, along with removing the Kyuubi's rage so that it wouldn't influence him."

"In fact, it was my intention to start training Naruto in accessing the Kyuubi's power soon. With the key, I would have been able to open the seal just a bit, and try teaching Naruto to filter out the Bijuu's mind when he tapped into its chakra. It would have taken years of training however, and more than that, it would have taken a great deal of discipline on Naruto's part."

"If that was what was supposed to happen," Tsunade asked slowly, "then what went wrong?"

Jiraiya smiled then; a small proud smile. "Minato was a genius," he stated again. "He included a number of fail-safe's into the seal; by having a constant trickle of the Kyuubi's chakra to flow into Naruto, it allowed his body to get used to it. There were provisions that let Naruto draw chakra from the seal when he was in danger. There were measures put in place to allow some of the Kyuubi's chakra to be converted into Naruto's chakra, giving the boy vast reserves. Then there is the key, which would allow for the seal to be fully opened, should Naruto ever need to control the Fox's power in its entirety or to suppress it further."

By now, Jiraiya was grinning as he listed everything the Yondaime had put into the seal. The medics were all wide-eyed; A seal that did all of that was extremely complex. Some matrixes in the hospital that were only simple focusing seals took almost entire rooms, the seals were so big! This one was tiny in comparison!

"Lastly," Jiraiya explained with a grin, "the Yondaime left a part of himself in the seal." More than one person gasped, and Kakashi inhaled sharply. "Should the Kyuubi be on the verge of escape, this failsafe would activate and that part of Minato would have been able to restore the seal to full strength."

"But it did something else instead, right?" Tsunade pointed out.

"Yes," he nodded, taking the scroll he had scribbled furiously onto just moment before and waving it, "He left a message inscribed with his chakra in the seal, explaining a few things, though now that I've activated it, the message itself should dissipate." This explained why her teammate had been so frantic to write it all down, of course. "In short, Naruto's body was almost beyond repair when the failsafe activated. His coils were ruptured, his body strained past its limits. When faced with this and the boy's stubborn efforts to stop the Kyuubi, Minato, instead of strengthening the seal, _changed_ it."

"Most of the Kyuubi's chakra was already outside the seal, and locking it all back would have left Naruto not only vulnerable and forever crippled, but very close to death. At the same time, instead of Naruto trying to take the Kyuubi's chakra into his own, he began pumping whatever strength he had left, along with his very stubborn, knuckleheaded _will_ into the seal itself!"

"Ah!" Kakashi exclaimed, and Tsunade's understanding was not far behind.

"What?" Hikari and Shizune asked at the same time, looking from her to Kakashi, Jiraiya and back, obviously not getting it.

"Tell me Hikari, if almost all of the Kyuubi's chakra was outside of the seal, then what remained inside of it?" Tsunade prompted.

The Hyuuga gasped, ". . . its mind?"

"Exactly!" Jiraiya exclaimed, "Naruto took almost all of his remaining chakra and shoved it into the seal, probably hoping to strengthen it and stop the Kyuubi from escaping. What he did, however, was overwhelm the Kyuubi's sealed mind with his own and absorb what little of the Kyuubi's chakra was left within the seal! The piece of Minato left as a failsafe saw all of this and acted! Instead of restoring the seal, he modified it, granting Naruto temporary access. When the Kyuubi's mind was gone, Minato then opened the seal completely and allowed Naruto to take control of Kyuubi's released chakra before closing the seal back again and leaving a message explaining things!"

"How could a small piece of Minato do all of that, though?" Tsunade asked skeptically. It sounded a bit farfetched from where she was standing.

"Easy, Naruto was doing all the work. That piece of Minato was another key; it would have taken all of its chakra to seal the Kyuubi back up, but it didn't have to force a Bijuu back into its cage, so it had more than enough chakra to simply open the seal when needed, and enough time to imprint a message for us to find."

"So the Kyuubi is really gone?" Shizune asked tentatively.

Jiraiya nodded. "Completely. All that is left is Uzumaki Naruto," he told them, obviously equally, if not more proud of the brat than he was of the brat's father.

". . . That doesn't explain why his chakra is silver, though. Do you have an answer for that?" Tsunade asked pointedly.

The Toad Sage slumped in his chair, and that was answer enough. "I haven't the foggiest, Princess."

Great. Back to square one, then.

"Then I'm open for suggestions. How do we get Naruto his body back?"

Ideas and theories were bounced around, and even the ANBU spoke up from time to time. They jotted everything down and arranged the ideas in order of feasibility so that by midnight they had more than a few options. It took Jiraiya to point out to them that the boy didn't need a flesh and blood body right away, just a human-looking one, for them to come up with as many solutions as they did.

Still, as she rubbed her temples for the hundredth time, she tried to look on the bright side. The Kyuubi was gone, never to return. Though, as she glanced at the silver fox that had, by now, rolled onto its side and curled around the Uchiha's bed even tighter . . . and apparently was chewing on one of the aforementioned Uchiha's legs, she didn't know if it was a good thing or a bad thing.

-o

**TBC . . .**

-o

_**Pickled Brains:**_ What do yall think? Let me know in a review!


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